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Linking Folkestone in Kent with Coquelles (near Calais) in northern France, the Channel Tunnel is now officially regarded as one of the seven wonders of the modern world. Running for just over 50 kms/31 miles – 38 kms/24 miles of which are under sea, a world record – the tunnel dips as low as 250 feet below the seabed, though the average depth is 45 metres (148 feet).
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Initial proposals for a tunnel linking France and England were mooted as early as 1802, with plans for horse-drawn coaches and an artificial island in mid-Channel where the horses could be changed and rested. The first tunnel workings were begun in 1881 and reached out 6,211 feet from the English side and 5,476 feet from France. The potential for invasion by France in the late 1800s caused the British government of the time to cancel the project even though it was proposed to station a sentry at the English end of the tunnel with a rifle to keep watch ! It was not until 1955, when defence specialists and politicians finally realised that the threat of an invasion by France was unlikely that further attempts were made.
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An agreement was eventually signed by the French and British governments and tunnelling recommenced in 1974. But a year later the new Labour government (under Harold Wilson) cancelled the agreement ! By 1981, with Mrs Thatcher in charge, British industry was ready to do its bit and although the government was not financially involved, the money being raised through the banks and other sources, agreement was reached with France (under Président Mitterrand) to go ahead with construction. In 1987 final agreements had been reached, technical details were in place and in July of that year Parliament passed the Act that brought the Channel Tunnel into being. France had approved it a month earlier.
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In June 1988 tunnelling began, on the French side and in December of the same year the boring machines first started digging on the English side. Two years later (1st December 1990) the two tunnels met under the Channel, linking the two countries underwater. This tunnel was the service tunnel. The main tunnels took several more years. Putting in place the vast amount of tunnel equipment took longer and it was not until 6th May 1994 that HM The Queen made the first under-sea railway crossing, in a Eurostar train, from Waterloo to Sangatte, where she was greeted by Président Mitterrand. They both then travelled back to Folkestone for further ceremonies.
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Freight and passenger services with Le Shuttle commenced shortly after and Eurostar services began on 14th November 1994 with a train from Waterloo to Paris. Eurostar services have since moved (on 14th November 2007) to the beautifully restored and rebuilt St Pancras station. It was ironic that on the day the first train left St Pancras for Paris, reaching Paris in record time, the passengers arrived in the French capital in the middle of a public transport strike that brought the city to a standstill ! It is important to note that Eurostar is nothing to do with the Channel Tunnel apart from being a customer. See our special feature on Eurostar.
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Also see our special page on how the tunnel was built – An Engineering Miracle !
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